I live in Beaufort and I would guess you would have to rate it an 8 with the Keys and Costa Rica Being 9's or 10's from the fishing end which is about as good as it gets in the old USA my opinion and you dont have to go out very far. Last year we had big smoker kings and dolphin just about a mile out of the inlet , big cobia in the shipping channel and turning basin and I saw a couple of drum under my dock just last night chasing bait fish. I would guess the bigger of the two was easily a 20 pounder. Hunting birds like quail or pheasants is put and take and has been for a long time like in a lot of other states. There is a small pheasant population on the outer banks and if you work hard you may flush 3 or 4 in a day if your dog can hold them. My chesapeake runs around in front of them and pins them and if I can get my *** moving when he does that, I can get a shot or two and there are also a lot of marsh hens that you can easily jump shoot . I got a few woodcock around the swamps and some wood ducks also.I've also seen lots of turkeys but they are much smarter than I am. Dove shoots are big here and there are lots of them. Last year we had big flocks of diving ducks but this year was too warm (Hot) and it was a bust . They do a lot of heavy duty goose and Swan hunting on some of the larger freshwater lakes and they do very well and I've already got an invite for next year and am looking foreward to it. Deer here are very small but there are lots of them and the National Forest has a number of parking lots and private deer clubs are always looking for members. Some are dog clubs and others are not. If you go up state in the farm country especially the peanut farms close to virginia you will see some NICE BIG bucks . The Carolina Sportsman has a classified section in the back with a lot of information about hunt clubs. No place is perfect for everything but I dont think you can beat the Beaufort area ( and I'm not from North Carolina) and if you want a moose you can always fly to alaska....Frank